Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 June 2016
377. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if he supports the tri-location model; why he has not submitted planning permission for the building of the maternity hospital at the St. James's Hospital site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16870/16]
View answerTri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services provides mothers and babies with access to a full range of medical and support services should the need arise, including immediate access on-site to paediatric services when foetal or neonatal surgery and other interventions are required. The availability of these services helps ensure the delivery of an optimum, safe service, particularly for high risk mothers and babies.
Planning permission was obtained in April this year for the new children's hospital co-located with St. James's Hospital on its campus at Dublin 8. In line with Government policy, the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital will also relocate to the campus in time, achieving tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services on the one campus. Accordingly, in submitting its planning application for the children's hospital, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, as a matter of good planning practice, provided information on all known future developments for the St James's Hospital campus, including the future maternity hospital. The design for the children's hospital provides for consideration of future maternity hospital requirements in certain shared service areas.
The decision to relocate the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital to the St James's Hospital campus was announced on 30th June last year. This project is, as yet, in the very early stages of development, and significant work, including the preparation of a design brief and design development, will be required before any planning application can be made.
